Game Details
Game: Birmingham City Women vs Aston Villa Women
Date: Wednesday 28th April 2021
Competition: Barclays FA Women's Super League
Venue: SportNation.bet Stadium
Time: 19:00
Watch: The game will be streamed live on the FA Player.
After a tumultous 2-2 draw against Bristol City last time out, Aston Villa Women quickly return to action this week as they prepare for the Second City derby.
Embroiled in the tightest of relegation battles, Villa faced the Robins on Saturday and looked well on their way to escaping danger.
An own goal from Meaghan Sargeant and a looping header from Nat Haigh gave Marcus Bignot's side a cushion going into the half-time interval, but late goals from Faye Bryson and Ella Mastrantonio put paid to what would have been a season-defining victory.
Now, Villa must regroup swiftly as an equally monumental week awaits them.
A visit to Carla Ward's Birmingham City comes first, before squaring off against West Ham United at Villa Park on Sunday (May 2).
These next two fixtures will all but decide Villa's fate, one way or another.
Cross-city rivals, Birmingham City, await us on Wednesday.
Sitting just one place and two points above us going into this week's derby, the chance is there for Villa to leapfrog Blues heading into the final week of the campaign.
Incidentally, Birmingham's 1-0 win over us at Villa Park on November 14 was the last league win Carla Ward and co. experienced.
They have gone on to win just one of their last 14 outings in all competitions since that derby day victory.
However, amongst those 14 games have been six league draws, showing there is plenty of fight within the Blues' squad.
Most recently was a 1-1 stalemate against Reading on Sunday.
Form Guide
Here's how the two sides have fared going into Wednesday's matchup...
Last Time Out
Marcus Bignot
Villa's interim manager spoke to VillaTV following Saturday's draw with Bristol City...
"Really pleased with the performance. Loads of positives in terms of goal-scoring opportunities and chance creation. We saw this game as an opportunity to express ourselves on the ball, and we certainly did that. The only disappointment is we didn't score more goals. It was a performance that warranted more goals."
"The third goal's always the most important in a game of football. We didn't get the third goal but even when it went to 2-1 it still looked like that next goal was going to come from us. It wasn't to be. It's lessons learned, and we've got to make sure this doesn't become a negative. It's a point and it's another step in the right direction. We have an opportunity against Birmingham to pull further away and get three points."
"We saw this game as an opportunity to express ourselves... it was a performance that warranted more goals."
— Aston Villa Women (@AVWFCOfficial) April 25, 2021
Marcus Bignot spoke to 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗧𝗩 after yesterday's draw. 👇 pic.twitter.com/lAelOiZENK
Nat Haigh
Fresh off scoring her first professional goal, Nat Haigh also joined VillaTV...
"We dominated for large parts of the game, but Bristol City have always got a threat up front. It feels like a loss, but it's not and we've got to remember that. Just gutted."
"We can take some real positives (from the overall performance). Our front players were exceptional. We did our jobs at the back and managed to keep them out for large parts. To concede so late is gutting but we'll look at it and take the positives into midweek."
"We've got to keep our heads up. We got another point on the board, and we're off that bottom spot which is essentially our aim. It's a huge derby game (on Wednesday). We've just got to go into it like any other game, and we still believe that we've got enough about us to stay in this division."
"We dominated for large parts of the game... we've got to keep our heads up."
— Aston Villa Women (@AVWFCOfficial) April 24, 2021
The thoughts of @NatHaigh6 following today's draw with Bristol City. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/G1mLLEXVru
